Hi Strike,

> > One of the things I enjoy most about a shore dive, either in salt or
> > fresh water, is a nice hot shower after the dive!  :-)
>
> Mate! I used to do that to thaw out after diving in the North Sea - until
> one of my mates went all saggy around the legs with a spinal bend.  We
> popped him into the one-man pot and had to walk the whole contraption across
> a narrow walk-way between the production platform and the drilling rig in
> order to load him into a helicopter for transfer to the shore-side chamber.
> (Two-months later it became mandatory to have a Deck Decompression Chamber!)
> Had we dropped him over the side, he'd've gone to the bottom of the ocean
> trapped in a steel cylinder with no way of escape.  It put me off getting
> warm until I was on home-leave.  At which time, Sylvia would wrap me in
> hot-water bottles and TLC!  :-)))
>
> > We used to fill and lug 5 gallon 'jerry cans' of fresh water to the
> > parking area where we'd kit up.  Stacked on on the roof rack of the car
> > while the dived, the sun would heat up the water inside the dark metal
> > jerry cans.  A siphon hose (later a camp shower head) provided a stream
> > of warm water from the jerry cans to rinse off the salt or lake sputz
> > accumulated during the dive.  It's amazing how much the water would warm
> > up, even in cloud cover on a cold day.
>
> Mind you, if you could attach the system to a coffee machine, it'd prove
> very attractive to folks like us who value 'good coffee' after the dive! :-)

...that beings up a good question, probably for Scubadoc.  In the 'bad
for you' category, how hot is hot for a shower after a dive?  Is it
relative to air temperature or some absolute temp?  Are hot liquids,
like coffee, taken internally after a dive even more of a problem at
bubble formation?

...hmmm, I just did a search on Scubadoc and turned up with this URL
http://www.gulftel.com/~scubadoc/prvndcs.htm  with this quote:
"There is no evidence that shows that a hot shower after diving
increases the rate of decompression sickness. "

I guess that means that at least your post dive coffee routine is safe!
:-)

*snip*

> Strike (Who's just resigned - after ten years - from Asian Diver Magazine!)
> :-(

That's a loss for the diving community.  However, I can only imagine the
politics involved in that decision and the real story with the 'new'
management.  I guess you'll have more time to work on that book!  :-)

Best regards,
Russ